Radio World

Ron Gangwer, left, with Steve Tuzeneu

From our People News page: Connecticut station WIHS(FM) recently honored Ron Gangwer for his service to the station over 20 years.

Gangwer is program manager and an on-air host; he joined the staff of the non-profit Christian outlet in 2001.

Gangwer is a former sixth-grade teacher and school administrator. Steve Tuzeneu, at right in photo, is general manager of WIHS, the call letters of which stand for “We’re in His Service.”) The station is owned by Connecticut Radio Fellowship and emphasizes “live and local” content.

Send People News items to radioworld@futurenet.com.

 

 

The post Gangwer Honored by WIHS appeared first on Radio World.

Radioline announced the launch of a radio app that’s compatible with the new premium Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro smartwatch. It said it is the first such app outside China.

“The application offers a wide range of content to listen, with real-time control of the mobile app from the watch, in a simple and elegant UI,” the organization said in a press release.

“With one touch, users can easily start /stop the program and save their preferred shows, podcasts or stations in the favorites. They can also control the volume and see the station or podcast name.”

The announcement was made by Xavier Filliol, COO of Radioline, and Rico Zhang, president of the smart wearable and health products line at Huawei Consumer Business Group.

Radioline, part of Baracoda Co., was founded in 2012 as an online radio service and now promotes itself as a global radio provider with access to 90,000 radio stations plus podcasts. Its content is distributed through a range of partners. Its content is consumed on devices such as smartphones, PCs, connected TVs and certain in-car digital products.

Radioline also recently partnered with Swisscom to offer an Android radio application on the latter’s blue TV Platform.

 

The post Radioline Adds App for Huawei Watch GT2 Pro appeared first on Radio World.

President Joe Biden named Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel as acting chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission.

Rosenworcel, a Democrat, joined the commission in 2012. Before that she served as senior communications counsel for the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and practiced communications law.

With the departure of former Chairman Ajit Pai and the inauguration of the new president, the FCC has an open Democratic seat and a 2-2 division by party.

The FCC has never had a female permanent chair; Mignon Clyburn held the acting chair for six months in 2013.

“I thank the president for the opportunity to lead an agency with such a vital mission and talented staff,” Rosenworcel said. “It is a privilege to serve the American people and work on their behalf to expand the reach of communications opportunity in the digital age.”

In a statement, Rosenworcel’s office said she has “worked to promote greater opportunity, accessibility, and affordability in our communications services in order to ensure that all Americans get a fair shot at 21st century success. From fighting to protect net neutrality to ensuring access to the internet for students caught in the Homework Gap, she has been a consistent champion for connecting all. She is a leader in spectrum policy, developing new ways to support wireless services from Wi-Fi to video and the internet of things.”

The National Association of Broadcasters issued a statement applauding the announcement: “She is a dedicated and experienced public servant who has demonstrated great aptitude in leading communications policy during her tenure at the commission.”

 

The post Rosenworcel Is Named Acting FCC Chair appeared first on Radio World.

A DHD Audio RX2 control surface installed at NRJ Norway.

DHD Audio has announced that Norwegian radio broadcaster NRJ Norway now has new digital audio mixing and routing system based on the German company’s equipment.

Soundware Norge was the contractor. The installation consisted of an RX2 mixer surface and an XC2 core router/processor with an AES67 audio-over-IP interface.

[See Our Who’s Buying What Page]

Soundware Norge Sales Manager Ketil Morstøl explained that the new equipment can handle both audio and video and is a dry run for audio and video configurations that will be installed at new studios for NRJ Norway parent P4.

“The goal of this pilot is to evaluate a complete upgraded technical infrastructure for both audio and video production, forming the ideal studio for the P4-Group which is moving to new facilities later this year,” he said. He added, “The P4 group recognized the ergonomic and technical advantages of DHD mixers some years ago and now uses them across its various studios in Norway and Sweden.”

According to DHD Audio, the 1 RU rackmounted XC2 core can handle DHD control consoles of up to 44 faders and link various DHD I/O modules. The RX2 control surface is based on control surface modules which can be combined and configured to match a wide range of radio and TV production environments. The design also scales easily from small production units with 6 or 12 faders to large consoles with up to 60 faders.

Users and suppliers are both invited to send news about recent installations and product applications to radioworld@futurenet.com.

 

The post NRJ Norway Chooses DHD Audio appeared first on Radio World.

A promotional image highlights benefits of the DTS Connected Radio platform.

 

The author of this commentary is SVP, Broadcast Radio at Xperi.

At the start of a new year, it seems like many people are wondering about what’s next. After all, in 2020 — otherwise known as the Year of Utter Uncertainty — the idea that something else was going to happen took on an entirely new edge, with memories of lockdowns and Zoom calls. It should not surprise anyone that radio has been vital through it all.

Radio creates a feeling of personal connectedness, community and belonging. Expanding that value around the world, and across content channels, is what has driven our work innovating radio through DTS Connected Radio.

It converges technology and partnerships to make possible engaging, rich, multimedia content that is global, accessible, consistent and relevant.

If that sounds impossible, well, for the right company, with passion and commitment to broadcast radio, it is not. Here we are, with the only global connected hybrid radio ecosystem — just launched in the new Mercedes S-Class, with more to come.

DTS Connected Radio’s ecosystem comprises tens of thousands of radio stations globally, our TiVo metadata catalog and so much more.

Now Playing, at-a-glance information gives users real programming choices in a visually rich interface.

Synergies gained from our merger with TiVo have accelerated deployment, enhanced our offerings and helped ensure unsurpassed security and operational support. TiVo’s massive music metadata platform and Xperi’s hybrid radio platform make an entirely new radio experience possible with premium radio content enhanced with visually rich data and deep content descriptors.

Especially notable is TiVo’s content aggregation, discovery and recommendation engines, which make content easier to discover for a richer listening experience — all harmonized through an ecosystem that delivers a unique, consistent and verified content experience from broadcast to in-vehicle.

Importantly, DTS Connected Radio’s platform is the only one in the world that caters to the unique requirements of both broadcasters, who retain content control, and automakers, who get a turnkey, secure and global solution.

Always delight the consumer

DTS Connected Radio is all about delighting the consumer.

Because the content is so engaging, and interactive, radio can outclass pure-play digital audio platforms that are crowding out space on vehicle infotainment systems.

It starts with the ecosystem: built on rich multimedia metadata experiences sourced directly from broadcasters, enhanced with our content library and harmonized to deliver a unique end-user experience in the car.

The listener enjoys an immersive experience where they can “favorite” a station, get detailed station information, give a thumbs up or down on programming, as well as access a global events database for concerts, performances, museums, festivals and more.

Quality, accuracy and completeness

Back when we started developing DTS Connected Radio, we shared the concept with automotive clients who offered detailed requirements. Paramount was global support and consistency across nearly 50 countries.

Meeting this initial requirement wasn’t easy, but we’ve exceeded it with over 75,000 stations, in nearly 80 countries.  All this content resides in a global ecosystem that is fully integrated, secure and ready to meet the high expectations of automakers and radio listeners around the world.

Here’s a bit of insight into how we’ve made that happen:

Content Aggregation: To do this globally requires an entire infrastructure that includes content management, station integration, content distribution, service optimization, operational support and more. Radio station partners can join our platform through a variety of approaches. Most have chosen robust direct integrations, others have leveraged aggregation platforms. We also ensure that all publicly available information from regional sources is included. This first step of content aggregation is critical, but is only the beginning of delivering a global, commercial hybrid radio solution.

Content Validation: This is where the real work begins, as the content takes shape within the DTS Connected Radio platform. The validation process starts with ingesting radio station feeds and ensuring accurate matching and integration into the platform. This process is supported by automated analytics and assets verification, as well as hand curation, localization and confirmation by a dedicated team of subject matter experts.

Content Enrichment: We enhance the user experience through premium content integration, including leveraging our TiVo music metadata library of over 40 million tracks, artist biographies, song lyrics in 14 languages and global events that have been curated by location, station format and programming.

Infrastructure: Network Operations and Security: To meet automotive requirements, we’ve built a global network, geographically deployed and redundant with 24x7x365 support. The system has coverage wherever a vehicle may need to connect, and an unmatched level of security. That includes rigorous requirements such as recurring third-party security audits (we consistently achieve an A rating). Given the scope of the deployments, and number of concurrent connections, we’ve ensured the platform is dynamically scalable, able to handle 5 billion queries daily, and architected to meet the peak-loading requirements of local markets.

Services API: Our unique services interface is designed to ensure exceptional response time, security and privacy, while offering flexibility to our automotive partners. It’s the integration and connection point with consumers, and includes adherence to privacy regulations (GDPR, CCPA), copyright enforcement, content stream protection and content moderation at a localized level. It also enables us to infer consumer engagement to provide consistent metrics and analytics to our broadcaster partners.

A new connected reality

We believe that at the heart of DTS innovation is the ability to harmonize and do so securely — worldwide. It’s what drives the user interface and the interactivity of the experience.

In a world gone mad by the noise of social media, this is the “what’s next” that creates a consistent and rich experience, validated by our experts and bolstered by our content. For broadcasters it puts the real value of radio on a global scale and in a personalized way for each and every listener.

That’s what’s next. And now.

View Joe D’Angelo’s Radio Show presentation “DTS Connected Radio: Looking Under the Hood.”

The post DTS Connected Radio: A Global Enhanced Radio Experience appeared first on Radio World.

A low-power FM station has agreed to enter into a consent decree and settle an ongoing investigation into whether or it violated the FCC’s underwriting laws. The resulting consent decree calls for the Athenian Multicultural Study Club to implement a compliance plan and pay a civil penalty of $10,000.

The Enforcement Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission received a complaint alleging that on May 13, 2019, Athenian — licensee of LPFM station WPLP(LP) in Athens, Ga. — broadcast an advertisement for a for-profit entity, a direct violation of the FCC’s underwriting laws.

[Read: LPFM Handed $15,000 Penalty After Allegedly Promoting 14 Businesses On Air]

In April 2020, the Enforcement Bureau issued a letter of inquiry to Athenian, complete with audio samples of the advertisements that were allegedly broadcast that day. An attorney for the licensee responded soon after and acknowledged that the station had broadcast underwriting announcements on behalf of for-profit entities between May 2019 and April 2020.

In addition, Athenian revealed that in the 12 months before receiving the letter of inquiry from the FCC, Athenian had aired nine announcements with similar promotional references.

The FCC gives special regulatory consideration to noncommercial educational stations — including LPFMs — by imposing fewer regulatory requirements and exempting them from annual regulatory fees. This is because noncommercial educational broadcast stations provide a unique service to the public and, via LPFM stations specifically, give the public a radio service that is both commercial-free and specifically focused on local communities.

“That flexibility, however, is not unlimited,” the Enforcement Bureau said in its investigation of the Athenian case, noting that FCC has long prohibited NCE stations from airing commercial advertisements.

In this case, the Enforcement Bureau agreed to enter into a consent decree with Athenian to end the bureau’s investigation into Athenian’s violation of the Communications Act of 1934 and the FCC’s underwriting laws. To settle this matter, Athenian admitted that it broadcast prohibited commercial advertisements in exchange for consideration. In addition to the civil penalty, the compliance plan calls on Athenian to designate an official compliance officer who can help the station develop, implement and administer the compliance plan and ensure that Athenian complies with the terms and conditions. That involves notifying employees about the consent decree, establishing a set of operating procedures and reporting any future noncompliance with the underwriting laws, among other rules.

 

The post Georgia LPFM Agrees to Consent Decree and to Pay $10,000 Penalty appeared first on Radio World.

Chairman Ajit Pai issued this statement on departing the Federal Communications Commission today. Pai, a Republican, was named to the FCC by President Obama in 2012 and designated chairman by President Trump in 2017. Earlier he had worked for four years in legal roles in the general counsel office. He departs as President Biden prepares to take office.

“Serving the American people as Chairman of the FCC has been the greatest honor of my professional life.  Over the past four years, we have delivered results for the American people, from narrowing the digital divide to advancing American leadership in 5G, from protecting consumers and national security to keeping Americans connected during the pandemic, from modernizing our media rules to making the agency more transparent and nimble.  It has been a privilege to lead the agency over its most productive period in recent history.

“None of this—not a single action, big or small—would have been possible without the incredible staff of the FCC.  They are remarkable public servants who brought to the task each day their expertise, diligence, and collegiality.  As I’ve had the chance to tell them during farewell events over the past week, they are inspiring public servants.  I’ll miss working with our engineers, economists, attorneys, 24/7 public safety staff, consumer outreach teams, policy experts, administrative staff, and many others.  Their accomplishments are even more remarkable considering that they have been working from home for the past ten months, as the FCC became one of the first federal agencies to implement comprehensive telework.  I thank each and every one of our staff for their outstanding service to the Commission and to the country.

“Thank you to the American people for their support during my time at the FCC.  I look forward to the next adventure.”

Pai’s office posted a list of what he considers the commission’s most important accomplishments during his term. He also posted a thank-you video message to FCC staff.

[Related: Read Radio World’s 2017 interview with Pai as incoming chairman.]

The post Pai Says Farewell to FCC; Read His Statement appeared first on Radio World.

In your latest issue of Radio World:

The FCC wants to know what you think about FM geo-targeting … NAB’s David Layer talks about tech initiatives for 2021 … Joe D’Angelo on why Xperi is excited about DTS Connected Radio … WJMC rushes to put up an emergency antenna … and lots more.

Read it here.

The post Inside the Jan. 20, 2021 Issue of Radio World appeared first on Radio World.

Chicago is very much a competitive PPM market. While it is hard to be perfect, seconds of off-air time are costly, and minutes of off-air time are just not acceptable. If you’re not on the air with PPM encoded audio, you are losing ratings.

Handling emergency audio situations has evolved considerably since I first came to manage the engineering department here at Crawford Broadcasting’s Chicago operation six years ago. I remember early on that there seemed to be no plan. When something out of the ordinary occurred, like the automation system stopped playout, the operators seemed to have no plan what to do.

When this type emergency occurred, if it was a time when engineers were on duty, they would leave the room to try to find an engineer without putting anything on the air first.

Many times, when I walked into a control room, the staff would be throwing their hands in the air, saying something like, “I didn’t do anything!” to which my reply would be, “You’re right, you didn’t do anything!” In other words, why were you not getting any audio on the air before seeking or calling an engineer?

To me the priorities of every operator should be, Number One, making sure no objectionable material gets on the air — we don’t want a $325,000 fine — but Number Two, keeping the meters moving! It’s a competitive PPM market, and the minutes waiting to find an engineer to fix the issue are just not acceptable. The duty of every operator is to make sure we have audio on the air, then call engineering to get things fixed and back to normal audio.

About the only plan that seemed to exist among the operators was perhaps to find a CD to put on the air. Often, they didn’t know where the emergency CD was located, or they didn’t even know such a thing even existed.

Basically, there was no plan, and very little training for such events. The plan seemed to be call engineering and throw up your hands to make sure everyone knows it wasn’t your fault.

A few years back, we purchased USB thumb drive players to place at the transmitter sites for emergency audio. Using silence detection and macro programming in the Burk ARC Plus Touch remote control units, we designed a system that will play audio from the USB stick when both STL paths are silent for two minutes. Then, when normal audio is restored for a solid two minutes, it will revert back to it.

This is great for dire emergencies like the STL equipment being down or the studio generator not coming on during a power outage. However, for events like audio problems in the studio, when we have operators on hand, two minutes is an eternity!

So we wanted to give the operators a way to do the same thing we had at the transmitter site, but this time in the studio.

Dedicated fader

To achieve this, we added USB thumb drive players in the studio. We again put emergency audio on thumb drives and these were attached to the players by chains so they wouldn’t be lost.

While this was a better plan than CDs that would get lost in the studio, we still found operators not remembering in an emergency where to locate the drives, how to get the fader on the board changed to the player, and how to get it on the air. By the time this all took place, the two minutes were up, and the transmitter site player was already on the air.

I knew that the WheatNet-IP blades offered internal audio players, but we were still in a mixed infrastructure with the control rooms still having G5 Wheatstone control surfaces connected to the legacy TDM system. We also had some WheatNet-IP blade infrastructure with interconnections to the TDM system.

Still, it was going to be an issue for the operators to use the internal players if they had to dial up a fader on the old G5 surfaces

We went through our studio rebuild this past year and now have an entirely WheatNet-IP infrastructure. With that, we are now using the LXE control surfaces, which also took us from 16 faders to 20 faders. This allowed me to have a dedicated fader just for an emergency audio source.

We purchased four licenses, one for each station, and activated the Audio Player tab on each of the M4 microphone processing blades in the control rooms.

The audio player screen in the Wheatnet Navigator app.

We then assigned them to the very last fader on each of the LXE control surfaces.

Now here’s the catch: We wanted to make things as easy as possible — to have an emergency audio source that the operators could get on the air with one button. This means we had to make it difficult for the operators to change the fader to any other audio source.

One cool thing about the LXE control surfaces is that they are very programmable. Just about every button on the surface can be customized to the need.

Well, the first thing I did after assigning the emergency audio player to Fader 20 was to defeat the source select knob to remove the ability to change to the source at all on that channel. I also programmed the soft key to only select the emergency audio player.

I then took the program bus select button on the channel and made it into a tally-only button, showing that the fader is in program. Hitting the button does nothing to turn the fader program on or off. I instead used the second soft key button to be the program assign button on the fader.

The emergency channels are on the far right on the LXE surfaces.

The idea is that this fader is always in program and can’t be easily taken out of program without special knowledge. We still have conscientious operators who turn the program bus assignment off on what they deem unnecessary faders at the beginning of their shift, a practice that you usually only find with our very experienced operators but is not desired in this instance.

I, of course, enabled all the necessary steps so the player is remote started. The result is that the operators have an emergency audio source that only takes two steps: Turn up the fader and push the “on” button.

In my mind, this should mean that anything more than 10 seconds of silence is unacceptable. If the main audio source stops playing, that first instinct should be to immediately press that “on” button and then call engineering.

This article originally appeared in the Local Oscillator newsletter of Crawford Broadcasting.

Rick Sewell, CSRE, CBNT, AMD is engineering manager for Crawford Broadcasting–Chicago. Radio World welcomes tech tips and story ideas at radioworld@futurenet.com.

 

The post Emergency Audio at the Touch of a Button appeared first on Radio World.

Earthworks Audio has introduced its Icon USB and Icon Pro XLR microphones, both intended for use in podcasting, remote working, streaming and home recording.

The condenser-type Icon USB offers a frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz, used a cardioid polar pattern, and can take on up to 132 dB. Meanwhile, the phantom-powered Icon Pro expands on those specs with a frequency response of 20 Hz to 30 kHz and a maximum acoustic input of 139 dB. Both versions weigh 1.5 pounds.

[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]

Designed with an eye towards providing visual flair for those who appear on camera with their mics, the Icon series mics are stainless-steel constructed. Earthworks partnered with Triad-Orbit to design and build a custom desktop microphone stand that ships with the Icon microphones. The integrated M-2R swivel ball joint can be disconnected and remounted on any studio mic stand or boom arm.

Icon Pro looks and feels similar, but is hand-tuned with an extended frequency response; the capsule has a faster rise time speed of 11.67 microseconds. Because it is an XLR broadcast microphone requiring 48 V of phantom power, it offers extended headroom and dynamics. The mic ships with an integrated Triad-Orbit M-2R adapter as well.

Both microphones are currently shipping. Since all components are machined and hand-assembled in Wilton, N.H., the initial launch will cater to U.S. distribution. Icon retails for $349 and Icon Pro sells for $499.

Info: https://earthworksaudio.com

 

The post Earthworks Audio Debuts Icon Microphones appeared first on Radio World.

Emmis Communications will promote company veteran Taja Graham to become president of its important Indianapolis radio market on March 1.

She’ll succeed Bob Richards.

Graham is currently VP of sales. The company said Richards recommended Graham for the role and that he will pursue other career interests after a transition period.

In the market, Emmis owns news/talk WIBC(FM), adult contemporary WYXB(FM) “B105,” country WLHK(FM) “Hank FM,” the multi-signal sports/talk “The Fan,” and Network Indiana.

Graham has been with Emmis for 22 years in a variety of radio sales and promotions leadership roles. She is a graduate of the Radio Advertising Bureau’s Mentoring and Inspiring Woman in Radio (MIW) Rising Through the Ranks program.

The change was announced by Chairman and CEO Jeff Smulyan.

Bob Richards has also been an executive with Cumulus and Susquehanna. Smulyan commended him for his successes with revenue and ratings at Emmis Indianapolis.

The post Emmis Tabs Graham for Indy Market appeared first on Radio World.

Future of Music Coalition logo

Three petitioners are firing back at the National Association of Broadcasters in their debate about the radio duplication rule and whether the Federal Communications Commission allowed a last-minute “switcheroo” before voting to kill it.

The petitioners are REC Networks, musicFIRST Coalition and Future of Music Coalition. At issue is whether the FCC acted properly last year when it ended the rule for commercial FM stations as well as AMs.

The three groups want to overturn the inclusion of FMs. Their petition, filed in November, has been the subject of strongly worded back-and-forth comments filed with the FCC.

Ex parte in question

The former rule prohibited commercial AM and FM stations from duplicating more than 25 percent of an average week’s programming on commonly-owned stations in the same service (AM or FM), in the same geographic market.

The FCC last August killed it by a 3–2 vote in part to “help struggling stations stay on the air” and help with a potential voluntary digital transition in AM. It also called the change part of its effort to streamline and modernize its media rules.

But the draft order that the FCC had published ahead of that meeting explicitly said the rule was to be changed only for commercial AM stations. Shortly before the day of the vote, FM stations were added to the proposal.

The critics, which believe this change will inevitably lead to less program diversity, said the FCC added FM after the NAB lobbied Republican commissioners “on the literal eve of the applicable Sunshine Agenda Period.” They said this timing effectively prevented others from further advocating prior to the vote.

So in November they asked the FCC to revoke the FM part of the decision. They believe the FCC violated due process in allowing a “180 degree switcheroo” after NAB had made a critical last-minute presentation without due public discussion.

NAB countered with a vigorous filing this month, as we’ve reported. It said the FCC vote was justified, that the critics didn’t understand the business fundamentals of radio, and that musicFirst and FMC were being “retaliatory” because of the separate issue of performance royalties. [Read more on NAB’s filing.]

Latest filing

Now the three groups are criticizing the NAB for making an “ad hominem attack.” They say in their reply comments that the NAB didn’t even try to address their complaint that the FCC failed to follow proper procedures.

“Instead, NAB asks the commission to simply accept its unsupported assertion that there is so little demand by broadcasters for program duplication on commonly-owned FM stations, that the commission shouldn’t worry about radio owners actually taking advantage of the rule change,” they wrote.

“NAB’s argument fails to take into account that larger corporate owners of FM radio stations could engage in widespread local duplication of FM programming in the wake of this needlessly drastic rule change … Such widespread duplication of programming would necessarily harm the public interest in program diversity at local market levels.”

The groups pointed out that another critic, Common Frequency, said the FCC broke its own rules by failing to issue a public notice about NAB’s ex parte meeting until after the vote. Common Frequency also said the NAB and FCC both publicly misidentified the recipients of NAB’s presentation as the Media Bureau, not the majority commissioners who had the authority to vote on the matter.

The three groups concluded by again calling for the FCC to reinstate the FM portion of the rule. Instead they want the commission to monitor waiver applications for local FM duplication of programming “in order to determine how often, and under what types of circumstances, owners seek relief from the rule designed to protect the public interest in programming diversity on local FM airwaves.”

The post Duplication Rule Vote Lacked Due Process, Critics Say appeared first on Radio World.

Earthworks Audio has introduced its Icon USB and Icon Pro XLR microphones, both intended for use in podcasting, remote working, streaming and home recording.

The condenser-type Icon USB offers a frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz, used a cardioid polar pattern, and can take on up to 132 dB. Meanwhile, the phantom-powered Icon Pro expands on those specs with a frequency response of 20 Hz to 30 kHz and a maximum acoustic input of 139 dB. Both versions weigh 1.5 pounds.

[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]

Designed with an eye towards providing visual flair for those who appear on camera with their mics, the Icon series mics are stainless-steel constructed. Earthworks partnered with Triad-Orbit to design and build a custom desktop microphone stand that ships with the Icon microphones. The integrated M-2R swivel ball joint can be disconnected and re-mounted on any studio mic stand or boom arm.

Icon Pro looks and feels similar, but is hand tuned with an extended frequency response; the capsule has a faster rise time speed of 11.67 microseconds. Because it is an XLR broadcast microphone requiring 48 V of phantom power, it offers extended headroom and dynamics. The mic ships with an integrated Triad-Orbit M-2R adapter as well.

Both microphones are currently shipping. Since all components are machined and hand-assembled in Wilton, N.H., the initial launch will cater to U.S. distribution. Icon retails for $349 and Icon Pro sells for $499.

Info: https://earthworksaudio.com

 

The post Earthworks Audio Debuts Icon Microphones appeared first on Radio World.

Digigram announced three directors to a new management team.

The French audio manufacturer named CFO Florence Marchal to be director of finance, human resources and legal affairs. She joined the company in 2000.

Nancy Diaz Curiel was appointed director of sales, marketing and communications. Based in Singapore, she has overseen Asian and Pacific operations including products distribution.

Xavier Allanic, who has been VP Sales EMEA and Americas since 2018, becomes director of operations.

Jérémie Weber, CEO since 2017, remains chairman of Digigram Group. “This position now allows him to better focus on the group’s global strategy, oversee investment prospects, growth projects and secure relations with shareholders.”

Left to right, Florence Marchal, Nancy Diaz Curiel, Xavier Allanic

The post Digigram Names New Management Team appeared first on Radio World.

The Federal Communications Commission has issued an unusual weekend enforcement warning that boils down to this: Don’t use ham radio, CBs, FRS walkie-talkies or other personal radio services to plan crimes.

This comes as federal and local government and law enforcement officials around the country report concerns over possible terrorist attacks from disgruntled Trump supports enraged by the outcome of the election and stoked by the recent attack on the Capitol.

The Enforcement Bureau “has become aware of discussions on social media platforms suggesting that certain radio services regulated by the commission may be an alternative to social media platforms for groups to communicate and coordinate future activities,” the FCC said in a statement issued Sunday morning.

“The Bureau recognizes that these service can be used for a wide range of permitted purposes including speech that is protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution,” it continued. But it continued in bold font: “Amateur and Personal Radio Services, however, may not be used to facilitate crimes.”

The warning applies to ham radio operators and users of services like Citizen’s Band, Family Radio Service walkie-talkies and General Mobile Radio service.

Specifically, amateur licensees are reminded that they are prohibited from transmitting “communications intended to facilitate a criminal act” as well as “messages encoded for the purpose of obscuring their meaning.” Users in the Personal Radio Services like CBs are prohibited from using them “in connection with any activity that is against federal, state or local law.”

The post FCC Warning: Don’t Use Ham Radio or CBs to Plan Crimes appeared first on Radio World.

Sean McDonald, director of Neumann Media at Neumann University in Aston, Pa., is in charge of both the university’s radio and television stations. He also is the chief engineer of the studios, and supports all communication classes, media programs and live streaming for the university. He said that, for many students in the communications/broadcasting program, 2020 and the pandemic have given them the opportunity for a hands-on experience that equals an internship.

Radio World: Please describe your media operations, including the physical plant. How many studios, and how are they equipped? Where is the transmission facility; how is it equipped?

Sean McDonald: Neumann Media is housed in the John J. Mullen Jr. Communication Center, a recently built $5 million, 10,000-square foot addition to the Bruder Life Center. Our facilities feature three radio studios, two Wenger Room editing bays, two television studios with control rooms, master control, an esports room, a multipurpose hall, green room, meeting space and a rental shop. All rooms in the building have copper ins and outs being sent to a Blackmagic Design 72×72 router. Each room also is a part of our Axia AoIP network.

Studio A

Studio A has an Axia Fusion and six AKG C414 microphones. Each studio runs RCS Zetta for playout. Pathfinder handles GPIO through a custom button panel on the Fusion, with commands for arming various studios for air, routing a VMix virtual mix to air during production periods, as well as changing the state of the automation system, play next and a custom change chain button. The studio has a PC with an Axia IP Audio Driver, and the Adobe Creative Cloud suite. There are four Comrex Access Rack codecs that can be routed into the studio to use for remotes or to connect with some of our sister stations, like 90.3 WMSC at Montclair State University. There is also a television mounted on the wall with the ability to route different camera feeds of the various studios to the television. All audio goes to master control and is processed through the 25-Seven PDM program delay manager.

Studio B has an Axia iQ console, with the same button panels configured as the Fusion in Studio A. There are two Shure SM7Bs in Studio B, with swappable AKG C414s stored in the room. The studio has a production PC with an Axia IP Audio Driver and the Adobe Creative Cloud suite.

Studio B

Studio C has an Axia Desq console. There is a Neumann BCM 705 and a Symetrix 528E Processor in the studio. The studio has a production PC with an Axia IP Audio Driver, and the Adobe Creative Cloud suite.

Each Wenger Edit room is equipped with an Axia Raq console, a production PC with an Axia IP Audio Driver and the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite.

The PDM audio in master controls exits through an analog node and is sent to the transmitter using a Comrex Access Rack as our STL. Our backup unit is a Barix InStreamer, and our stream is encoded using the Telos ProStream. The Telos VMix in master control integrates through the phone panel on the Fusion and through VSet handsets in the other studios and edit bays.

The transmitter site is one mile away from campus and features a Nautel VS300 as the transmitter. Workflow at the transmitter begins with the Comrex Access Rack and Barix Extremer receiving audio from the studio. An iPod with emergency backup music is also playing at all times at the transmitter. All audio goes into an Axia Analog Node; another Pathfinder Server routes the audio to air. The Access gets priority, followed by the Barix and then the iPod. The audio then is processed through an Omnia.One, and is fed through a Digital Alert Systems DASDEC as the final stage before hitting the transmitter.

TV Studio Photo: www.chorusphotography.com

Our two TV studios and sports arena are each equipped with a NewTek TriCaster 8000 video production system running Advanced Edition. Our studio cameras are Panasonic P2s with AutoCue teleprompters, tally lights, Atomos Ninjas for studio monitors and RTS Audiocom intercom. We have a Soundcraft SI Expression 3 audio mixer in the main television studio and a Soundcraft SI Expression 2 in our secondary studio and sports arena. As mentioned, we use a BMD 72×72 router to send ins and outs throughout the building. We use NDI [Network Device Interface] sources like computers to bring guests in virtually, and to produce high-quality Zoom/Teams conferences when necessary. For remote guests who are able to connect with us, we have two Comrex LiveShot units and a ReadyCam Encoder. In many ways, we built this infrastructure for the future; we just didn’t know the future was operating in a pandemic.

RW: Who makes the executive decisions for the station? What role do the students have in station operations? What types of programming do they produce?

McDonald: As the director of the program, I make the executive decisions for the station with direct input form my student staff. Our students make up a student leadership team for radio and television: program director, news director, music directors, student engineer, news director and production director. Because we are both radio and TV, our students are active in both areas, so they lend their expertise to both programs to give themselves a well-rounded experience.

Our radio station has a wide range of programming, including specialty sports programming (all hockey, all basketball, Philly sports, etc.), a Hispanic music hour, a Hispanic culture hour, a positive/praise hour and so much more. My students really embrace the idea that college radio is the training ground for their future, and the space where music is discovered and given a chance. From ’50s jazz to K-Pop, we run the gamut of musical genres, which really makes us feel like we are “Radio Re-Invented.”

RW: Are students on campus now or learning and operating remotely?

McDonald: Neumann University [originally] operated on a hybrid method. Our students had the choice to come in-person, do classes fully remotely either live or asynchronous, or do a mixture of both. Classes were socially distanced with seating, and where needed, a rotation was created to let as many students as possible who wanted an in-person experience to have it. We went fully online for the remainder of the semester effective Nov. 16, 2020, five days earlier than originally anticipated.

RW: Is the station currently on the air? What means and products (e.g. software or hardware) are being used?

McDonald: The station is currently on the air, and shows are continuing both in person and remotely. Throughout the pandemic, we have been using a variety of software and hardware to get on the air, and it has given us a lot of great options. At the start of the pandemic, I bought a bunch of Blue USB Snowball Mics and PreSonus Audiobox USB 96 boxes to send home with students for classes and for radio shows. A few faculty and staff members are also using these to do their radio shows remotely.

We have multiple Comrex Access Rack units and portable units, so when we need a quick hit on the air, I typically let the students use the Fieldtap app if they have a decent enough Wi-Fi connection.

We have been using Zetta2Go via VPN for voice tracking of shows, or letting students use the interface to control the air machine’s stack and log, while being brought in on some form of codec.

The software we are currently using to get people on the air includes Audiomovers Listento, Cleanfeed, Discord, Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

RW: What impact has COVID-19 had on the station? What are the challenges due to social distancing?

McDonald: When our building was in the design phase, we made sure that every room had audio and video inputs and outputs because we did not know when we would need to use each room differently. I had planned with the future in mind. I just did not realize the future meant social distancing during a pandemic. Because of health guidelines, we had to limit the number of people allowed in each studio. Some of our shows had up to six people on it, so we had to figure out a way to safely allow the shows to meet, while not losing quality, and most importantly, not letting the audience in on the secret.

[Read: College Media Spotlight: University of Nebraska, Omaha]

I installed PTZ cameras in each of our studios and editing suites, and using our classroom studio’s TriCaster 8000, I created a quad box that had each camera feed in it. We put monitors in each of the studios so each studio could see the other in real time. Being an Axia plant, I created a COVID VMix on the Fusion’s Power Station for each of the studios, so when in a break, each studio could talk to each other without having to leave the room. The biggest test for this came on College Radio Day, when we had to social distance 15 people across six rooms. It worked flawlessly, and now it’s very simple for the students to switch to the “Social Distance” profile in the main studio and be able to do their show with ease.

For TV, we capitalized on the addition of PTZ’s in our editing suites and doubled them as remote sites for our TV shows. Our show “Intern TV” has three hosts (who have all lived together), which we can easily socially distance, but guests presented a challenge. We did not want to have four people spread out across the room, so we put the guests in the Wenger Room. Using an Axia Analog Node, we send a mix/minus to the Raq to hear the studio, and we take the guest’s audio into the IEM of our hosts. The hosts sit in a semi-circle around a large TV that has a static shot of our guest, making the visual connection for the audience that they are still doing this live, just with a little distance between them. We adopted this model for our news program as well, which has worked well.

Technology is so good now that we were always prepared to do this, but never actively had a reason to utilize the workflow. The biggest challenge has been getting the students used to not having people physically next to them. It took a few weeks, but this is now just another tool in the student’s toolbox. Of course, there are small challenges that arise, like when one of our anchors was placed in quarantine after a possible exposure. Instead of cancelling the show, we took advantage of the fact that Microsoft Teams has become NDI-compliant. Using NDI, we put our anchor into our TriCaster like any other camera, and we fed the anchor the prompter as our camera feed, and the show continued just like any other week.

2020 taught us to be ready for anything, and to adapt on the fly. I am really proud of the way my students have powered through this, and I truly believe they will be better broadcasters because of these experiences.

Sean McDonald at his home studio.

RW: If the students are operating remotely, how are you making that happen? Can you give examples?

McDonald: Live shows that are remote happen using Cleanfeed, Discord and Microsoft Teams. We are using Cleanfeed to bring hosts and guests into the studio. We use a PC with an Axia IP driver to get the studio computer to the console, and we feed our PGM4 bus to the machine for talkback. We use Discord and Microsoft Teams to chat type to each other during on-air breaks, share files/ info, etc. Our Wellness Center hosts a weekly wellness show completely remotely with students, a professional counselor and a board operator who is in Studio A, communicating and producing the show. At the moment, the “Wellness Wednesday” show is the only one that is remote. During the start of the pandemic, students would prerecord their shows through voice tracking with Zetta2Go for single jock shows. Shows with more than one host would use Discord or Cleanfeed to record the show, and then we would load it into Zetta via VPN.

RW: Is there anything else our readers should know?

McDonald: 2020 has been rough for everyone, but it has also been a learning experience for the professional broadcaster. Students studying communications/broadcasting may not have noticed that on March 13, 2020, everything about our industry changed. Suddenly, we weren’t able to go live from an insert studio with a ReadyCam for TV or a rental booth for radio to get on air. What was considered not broadcast quality on March 12 was suddenly acceptable because it is all that was available. Zoom became a tool to get an image to air, and we have become accustomed to AirPods as an IFB, and not very good audio quality.

My students took a week to mourn the loss of their in-person semester, and then got to work with me to figure out what was the next step. In writing the answers to this interview, I asked them about their experience, and they agreed that they learned more in the past eight months than they probably would have learned in their traditional classes and internships.

[Read: College Station Spotlight: Montclair State University]

At shutdown, items like monitors and webcams and USB microphones became a hot item on eBay because the supply was depleted. We had to figure out the best way to get on the air without breaking the bank or taxing our home internet bandwidth. For a few months, my students became mini broadcast engineers, figuring out how to use software and tools they have in their everyday lives as a way of broadcasting a signal over the internet and on the terrestrial airwaves. They figured a way to use gaming tools like Discord to conduct interviews with pop artists. Talking to our former students and friends in the industry, we discovered new tricks that previous investments could do. For example, a former student handles the Twitch account for 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia. They were operating remotely, and started using their Livestream Studio’s remote guest feature, bringing up to five guests into their switcher using Google Chrome. We had an old box in storage, and we produced TV shows with it.

The students also learned more about IT and networking, as well as the functionality of a VPN and how to remote edit/voice track. We would normally talk about these things in theory of classes, but rarely would they get the opportunity to use it hands-on.

This pandemic has been the best hands-on experience next to an internship, because this form of broadcasting is going to stick around for a long time. Codecs will continue to be developed, equipment will go down in price, and guests will care about the @ratemyskyperoom account even more than ever, so they will buy artwork and proper lighting for their segment on TV. 2020 has prepared the next generation of broadcasters for broadcasting’s next generation. Fortunately for us, these students were embracing these technologies long before television and radio professionals thought to. The future of broadcasting is in great hands

 

The post College Station Spotlight: Neumann University appeared first on Radio World.

The author of this commentary is chair of the Digital Radio Mondiale consortium.

Right from the beginning of 2021, Prasar Bharati, the public radio and TV broadcaster of India, has put its cards on the table. First it clarified that no AIR station was being closed anywhere in any state, a rumor that had made the media rounds in India.

Prasar Bharati has further announced that it is moving ahead with its plans to strengthen All India Radio, expanding its network with more than 100 new FM radio transmitters across India.

Figure 1 (Click here to enlarge.)

The AIR Network already comprises a few hundred stations and several hundred radio transmitters in one of the world’s largest public service broadcasting networks that operates on multiple terrestrial, satellite and internet platforms.

Prasar Bharati is also moving ahead with its plans to introduce digital terrestrial radio in India. According to the Indian broadcaster, select AIR channels are already available through digital DRM technology to listeners in many cities/regions. They can experience the power of DRM through a choice of multiple radio channels available on a single radio frequency in digital mode. These include AIR News 24×7 dedicated to news and current affairs, AIR Raagam 24×7 dedicated to classical music, apart from local/regional radio services and Live Sports.

According to Prasar Bharati AIR is in an advanced stage of testing digital technology options for FM radio, and a standard will be announced soon to herald the rollout of digital FM radio in India.

Already in 2020 AIR had introduced nonstop pure DRM transmissions with three services or programs on one frequency in four key metros: Mumbai 100 kW (1044 kHz), Kolkata 100 kW (1008 kHz), Chennai 20 kW (783 kHz) and New Delhi 20 kW (1368 kHz).

More varied and exclusive audio programs with Journaline multimedia content were already added and progress was made on the national rollout of DRM’s Emergency Warning Functionality (EWF), and a program information guide enabled by Journaline.

All these activities follow from the activities of a Project Monitoring Unit (PMU) in AIR set up a year ago. It undertook to identify the technical configuration of the DRM infrastructure for the entire country, the creation of popular, attractive content, the strong promotion of DRM broadcasts and intensified interaction with the industry aimed at manufacturing mass-scale receivers.

AIR has extended its infrastructure, as seen in Figure 1.

Figure 2, a Journaline Score Card providing information on a cricket match.

As far as the program content is concerned, AIR has already come up with new initiatives, like the 24/7 news exclusively in DRM broadcasts.

The entertainment channel is transmitting live sports events as well, such as cricket, which is the most popular sport in India; AIR is exploring the possibility of providing a Score Card under Journaline advanced text together with live cricket commentary in pure DRM (see Figure 2).

There are already several receiver manufacturers in India and abroad planning and starting production of receivers.

One such manufacturer, Gospell from China, has formed a partnership with Antriksh Digital Solutions to become their representative and distributor in India.

AIR also plans to acquire soon several thousand receivers.

Going forward, a key element of success in India is the further adoption of the standard by the automotive industry. Currently there are more than 2.5 million Indian cars with line-fit DRM receivers at no extra cost to the consumer. More brands are considering the introduction of DRM radios in their vehicles to satisfy consumer demand.

During the second national Car Forum organized at the end of November by NXP, an AIR representative said that it is imperative that the government seriously consider mandating DRM digital radio in all vehicles in the country.

In addition to MW and SW in 2021, efforts are being made to include DRM in FM, as the broadcaster and ministry are coming close to mandating a digital radio standard for the FM band.

The more cars there are in India with DRM radios, the better promotion of their DRM programs AIR can make to the general public. And this cannot just include audio in mediumwave but other bands too. There is demand for all core features of the DRM standard, of which Journaline has already been introduced. This should be followed by the Emergency Warning Functionality (EWF), station logos, AFS, announcement, blending to AM/FM and others.

Activities in India have continued in 2020 despite the pandemic. Already in 2021 there are signs of accelerated activities linked to DRM in FM, DRM for education and getting receivers in numbers.

 

The post Digital Radio Mondiale in Focus in India appeared first on Radio World.

Regional broadcast systems integrator Broadcast Solutions Finland Oy kicked off the new year with a new name, Broadcast Solutions Nordic Oy.

Initially focused on Finland, the company cited the change to a growth in clients in neighboring Nordic and Baltic countries. The company will remain headquartered in Helsinki.

Broadcast Solutions Nordic Oy Managing Director Antti Laurila said, “The Broadcast Solutions Group is a globally active company … And as an integral part Broadcast Solutions Nordic offers its services to broadcasters and customers in the Nordic countries, the Baltics and beyond.”

 

The post Broadcast Solutions Finland Changes Name appeared first on Radio World.

The author is president of V-Soft Communications and Doug Vernier Telecommunications Consultants. This is one in a series of articles about how to get the most out of various popular broadcast products.

Lost the lease on your tower? Need to find a better channel? Can you increase power?

These are the common questions posed by FMCommander users. Here is how you can make the best of V-Soft Communications’ widely respected FM channel-study program.

Need a new tower site? Start the program and enter your station’s call sign, then click the “Compile” button to create your job file. (In this case we have used KAZY.) The program will access the V-Soft FCC database, updated daily, to find all the stations that must be protected by the reference station under the rules:

 

Within a few seconds the program will show you the minimum separations channel study:

 

 

Well, it looks like your station already fails the minimum separation required to KCWA. The user can see the situation graphically by opening the “Separations Mapping” screen.

 

 

The big plus mark reference site must not be inside another station’s separation circle. The radius of this circle is the Sec. 73.207 required minimum distance between stations based on their class. As you can see, the site is inside the separations circle for KCWA. This can happen if one or both stations use the Sec. 73.215 short space rules. But can the station be moved to a different tower that can satisfy the rules?

To look for usable existing towers click open the “Map Information“ window and click the bullseye icon to see the default coverage of the reference station. Any new tower location must satisfy the FCC requirement for the 70 dBu to cover at least 80 percent of the principal city to which the reference station is licensed (note that is barely the case for the now existing tower).

 

Click on any of the towers to move the reference station to the selected tower. For this example, we will click on the tower to the west of Cheyenne. The tower I.D. number and heights are listed immediately below the tower.

 

 

Looking at the updated main screen table, we find that that besides the overlap with KCWA, we now have another problem with KMAX-FM. Notice that, on the Main screen, KMAX-FM is now colored magenta (below). This means that the site fails to meet the minimum 73.215 short space distance to apply the required (U-to-D) contour-to-contour rules. As you can see by the maps, there are no other towers that are outside KCWA circle.

 

 

This likely means that a new tower must be built at a nearby site that would properly serve the principal city and that would not make the short space contour overlap worse. The application at such a site must show that, based on the protected and interference contours of two stations, there is no overlap that would cause interference. When the lightning bolt icon is clicked from the Map Information screen, the screen will show the contour relationship of the reference station and KCWA.

 

As one can see, there is no contour overlap and the site meets the 73.215 short spacing requirements. It appears that the current tower’s location is the only area that meets all the requirements.

Got a suggestion for a product you’d like to see in this series? Email radioworld@futurenet.com.

 

The post Tips for FMCommander Power Users appeared first on Radio World.

Who knows why the last couple of months have seen an explosion in broadcast/podcast microphones but enjoy the bounty.

The latest is TASCAM’s TM-70, a supercardioid pattern microphone with a dynamic element “for live broadcasting, podcasting, film dialog, and audio streaming.”

[Check Out More Products at Radio World’s Products Section]

The company lists the frequency response at 30 Hz–20 kHz.

The company said, “the TM-70 was specifically engineered to capture what it is pointed at, effectively isolating sound sources such as directional dialog. The mic’s super cardioid directivity makes it resistant to ambient noise, thus enabling users to achieve a clean, clear audio signal that results in first class speech intelligibility.”

It ships with a shockmount, six-foot mic cable and a tabletop mic stand.

Info: www.tascam.com

 

The post TASCAM Joins the Mic Rush appeared first on Radio World.